The present invention relates generally to telecommunication services. More particularly, the present invention relates to prepaid calling services and to call forwarding services.
It has been long considered desirable to allow subscribers to telecommunication services as much control as possible in the processing of calls, thereby reducing the need for service provider intervention and enhancing the privacy of telephone communications. For example, a known method for enabling a called party to divert calls directed to the party""s telephone to another telephone station is usually referred to as call-forwarding. Call forwarding is conventionally implemented in a stored program electronic switching office which stores data identifying the party as a subscriber to the call-forwarding service. Data is also stored at the office indicating if the service is activated and; if so, a directory number to which incoming calls are to be forwarded. When an incoming call is received, the stored program of the office will retrieve the forwarding number from memory if the call-forwarding service is activated and will act, effectively, as an originating office with respect to the new number. That is, the office may complete the call local to the new number if it is served by the office, or it may seize the outgoing truck to another local office or to the toll network, as the situation demands, and outpulse the new number to a distant office to complete the call.
Call-forwarding, while effective at rerouting calls originally bound to a person""s home phone number to a number whose location is accessible to a mobile subscriber, does not alone adequately address the issue of the called party""s privacy. The called party must distribute the home phone number in order to receive forwarded calls. A clever subscriber could create a phony number that is forwarded to the subscriber""s real home phone number, but the subscriber would have to go through the costly process of arranging for the provisioning of the alternative line for each number which the party distributes. Moreover, the subscriber cannot arbitrarily change the alternative line number.
As a separate matter, subscribers have found it convenient to obtain telecommunication services in a prepaid manner rather than through signing up with a specific service provider. Today it is commonly possible for a person to walk into a convenience store and purchase a prepaid telephone card enabling the usage of a telephone service for a preset period of time or units. Such prepaid architectures typically utilize a pre-specified toll free number, such as an 800 number, which the user calls and inputs a security access code in order to access the service. The particular access code is associated with an entry in the service provider""s database that keeps track of how much time has been used up by the purchaser/user of the prepaid card. When the time expires, the calling card""s access code can no longer be used by the card holder to access the network.
Although prepaid calling card architectures have been utilized to provide traditional point-to-point outbound calling service, they have not been harnessed to provide more complicated and involved telephone servicesxe2x80x94such as call forwarding. Moreover, prepaid calling has not been utilized to enhance the privacy of a called party.
A telecommunication service is disclosed which allows customers to prepay a telephone service to allow them to receive inbound calls forwarded anonymously to a destination number. The inbound call routes to a forwarding number using an inbound access number and an access code. The call is routed to a number chosen by the customer or, alternatively, a preset voice announcement can be utilized. Billing for the call can be charged against a prepaid amount, and the service can be sold in the same manner as prepaid calling cards. The forwarding number is advantageously unknown to the caller, thus enabling anonymous phone calling prepaid by the called party. Multiple access codes can be easily provisioned and purchased to permit the called party flexibility in how and when other parties contact the called party. The service is of particular benefit for those wishing to transact business with another party on a short-term basis without the other party knowing the subscriber""s long term telephone number.